Margaret Towner
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Margaret Ellen Towner (born March 19, 1925) is an American religious leader who was the first woman to be ordained a minister of the
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was the first national Presbyterian denomination in the United States, existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North Americ ...
(PCUSA).


Early life and education

Margaret Ellen Towner was born March 19, 1925, in Columbia, Missouri, to Milton Carsley Towner and Dorothy Marie (Schloeman) Towner. She majored in pre-medical studies at
Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling ...
, receiving her B.A. in 1948. Afterwards, she worked as a medical photographer for the
Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...
. She left the clinic and enrolled at
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
in New York to study Christian audiovisual education; around the same time, she began volunteering at local churches in Syracuse (First Presbyterian Church) and East Genesee. Even though the PCUSA was not yet ordaining women as ministers, change was in the air, and the pastor at First Presbyterian Church suggested that Towner should explore the ministry. The church offered her its Scattergood Fellowship to attend Union Theological Seminary in New York, where Towner undertook the three-year program leading to a Bachelor of Divinity degree, which she received in 1954. A decade later, in 1967, she received an M.A. in guidance and counseling from
Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...
. After obtaining her B.D., Towner was commissioned a church worker. She became director of Christian education at Takoma Park Presbyterian Church in Maryland (1954-1955) and then at First Presbyterian Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania (1955–58).


Ordination and ministry

In 1955, the PCUSA voted to begin ordaining women as ministers. The following year, on Oct. 24, 1956, Towner became the first woman ordained to the ministry by PCUSA, with her ordination taking place at Syracuse-Cayuga Presbytery in New York. (Nine years later, the church's southern branch, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS) would ordain its first woman minister,
Rachel Henderlite Rachel Henderlite (December 30, 1905 – November 6, 1991) was an American religious leader who was the first woman to be ordained a pastor of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS), which later merged with the United Presbyterian Ch ...
.) Since there were a number of Presbyterian women preparing for ordination in the wake of the PCUSA vote, Towner was initially not sure whether she was actually the first to be ordained. Her ordination was covered by ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' photographer
Alfred Eisenstaedt Alfred Eisenstaedt (December 6, 1898 – August 23, 1995) was a German-born American photographer and photojournalist. He began his career in Germany prior to World War II but achieved prominence as a staff photographer for ''Life'' magazine af ...
, and photographs of Towner's ordination ceremony appeared in a five-page spread in the November 12, 1956, issue of the magazine. After being ordained, Towner returned to her congregation in Pennsylvania, though she was never asked to conduct services or preach in that church; and she was also made assistant pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Syracuse. Afterwards, she served at congregations in Kalamazoo, Michigan (First Church, 1958–69); Indianapolis, Indiana (Northminster Presbyterian Church, 1970–72); and Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Kettle Moraine parish, 1973-1990). At first she worked mainly in Christian education and as an assistant or associate pastor, only later becoming a full pastor. It was not until her very last posting that she was paid equally with male pastors. She spent 17 years in Milwaukee, where she was one of three co-pastors in a parish with six churches. In 1981, the year that PCUSA celebrated the 25th anniversary of women's ordination in the church, Towner was elected vice-moderator of the church's General Assembly. Among her activities that year was a trip to Korea to talk to Presbyterian congregations, as the Korean churches were then considering whether to ordain women. In 1990, at the end of her Milwaukee pastorate, she retired to Sarasota, Florida.


Honors and legacy

In 1983, Towner was given the Distinguished Alumnus Award by Carleton College. In 1989, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of divinity by Carroll College. In 2006, the Milwaukee Presbytery established the Doctor Margaret E. Towner scholarship in her honor. A number of women who followed Towner in the Presbyterian ministry have credited her as their role model and mentor. In 2015, Towner celebrated her 90th birthday.WEEKLY PRESBYTERY LETTER – MARCH 19, 2015
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See also

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Sarah E. Dickson Sarah Ellen Dickson (August 31, 1880 – November 21, 1965) was the first woman elder in the Presbyterian Church in 1930. She was a "pioneer in the daily vacation bible school movement," She was active in church work for over 60 years and was kn ...


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Towner, Margaret Ellen 1925 births Women Christian clergy American clergy American Presbyterian ministers Carleton College alumni Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni Living people Syracuse University alumni